Restoring True Worship In The House Of God

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

The house of God is a place of worship, and we should do our best to ensure true worship remains in the church.

Introduction

Have we forgotten what the house of God is meant for?  Would Jesus turn over tables in our places of worship today?  I hope you will take a moment to join me for this week’s lesson because I do believe that tables would be turned over in some places of worship today.  This week’s Sunday School commentary will cover John 2:13-17.

The Temple of Jesus’ Day

In the commentary “Creating a Sacred Dwelling for God”, I went over God’s instructions to Moses about the arrangement of the Tabernacle of Meeting.  

In that commentary, we saw how the Lord had Moses anoint everything inside and outside of the tabernacle.  The reason why the tabernacle was anointed was because it was home to the Ark of the Covenant, and it also represented the dwelling place of God.  Because God is holy, His dwelling place should also be considered holy.

Now, let’s keep that thought in mind as we learn about the temple in today’s commentary.  The temple came about because David desired to build a temple to house the Ark of the Covenant, as he didn’t think it should be housed in a tent (2 Sam. 7:1-2).  Though he desired to build the temple, David wasn’t permitted to do so because he was a man of war who had shed much blood.  

God made a covenant with David that one coming through his seed would establish and build the house of God (2 Sam. 7:4-13).  David passed building the temple of God on to Solomon after he had gathered all the supplies needed to build the temple (1 Chr. 22:5-10).  David had a grand idea in mind for the splendor and beauty of the temple.  

God’s thoughts about the temple were that it must be holy, which is why David wasn’t permitted to build the temple.  That is not to say that David wasn’t a holy man because he was a holy man.  The ‘problem’ with David was the fact that his hands had been ‘defiled’ with must blood.

The temple during Jesus’ day was not the temple that Solomon built.  The temple Solomon built was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians.  The first temple was rebuilt during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, after the Babylonian exile.  By the time of Jesus, it had been renovated into a spectacle.  

The temple was more of a complex center, as it kept to the principal construction of the tabernacle of Moses’ day.  The temple had an outer courtyard that was fenced in, and was on accessible to Jews.  Within the courtyard was the lavar and altar for burnt offerings.

The holy place – the sanctuary (tabernacle) – stuck to the instructions of the tabernacle, having the Most Holy Place separated by a veil.  The next section was the place where the table, the showbread, the altar, and the lampstand were located.  This holy place was accessible to the priests, and again, the Most Holy could only be accessed by the chief priest on the Day of Atonement.

There was an addition to the temple complex, which is where the majority of our lesson takes place today – the Gentiles’ Courtyard.  The Gentile’s Courtyard was separated from the courtyard only accessible to the Jews.  It had its own gate that could be entered by Gentiles who desired to worship the God of Israel.  

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem today is not the first nor the second temple, which is to say that it is not the same temple of Jesus’ day.  The temple of Jesus’ day, the Second Temple, was destroyed by Rome, 70 years after Jesus lived.

A Den of Thieves

Our lesson points out that it was Passover when Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  This recording of Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem for the Passover followed His miracle of turning water into wine.  Jesus turned water into in Capernaum, which was located in Galilee, north of Jerusalem.  So, while John 2:13 says that Jesus “went up” to Jerusalem, let us understand that He traveled southward.  

John 2:14 tells us that Jesus found in the temple those who were selling and doing business in the temple.  Let us understand that Jesus did not find this being done in the sanctuary, the holy place.  As I explained in the opening, the temple was the entire complex, including the courtyards.  The money exchangers and those selling oxen were doing so in the courtyards.

Now, you may wonder why they were selling oxen and exchanging money in the temple.  As I explained, many Jews would return back to Jerusalem, coming from afar, for the celebration of Passover.  So, if they came to the temple, they would be able to purchase oxen for sacrifice and change over their money into the kind of money the Jews would accept.

In Old Testament times, this wasn’t necessary because the tabernacle went with the people, and the people had their own oxen they could offer up.  Money also wasn’t much of a concern in those times.  

Now, there wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with the selling of oxen nor with the money exchangers in the temple complex.  The Jews didn’t want to accept money that had images on it, in this case, Caesar.  

Now, while there was nothing wrong with the intent behind the sellers and exchangers, what it had become defiled the temple.  John 2:15 tells us that Jesus had made a whip out of cords and began to drive the people out of the courtyard, overturning the tables of the sellers and exchangers.  

Jesus then rebuked the sellers and exchangers, saying to them, “Take these things away!  Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise (John 2:16).” 

The sellers and the exchangers had made what was supposed to be a place of holiness into a place of business.  One goes into business to profit themselves.  While the intent was to help out those coming from afar, it was very likely that those business-minded folks were using their business to get over on others – an evil practice.

Zeal for His Own House

The recording of Jesus cleansing the temple in John’s gospel is of the first time Jesus cleansed the temple.  Most of us are familiar with the second time Jesus cleansed the temple, as shown in Matthew 2:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48.   At the second occasion, Jesus rebuked, saying, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”

At the second occasion, the temple was as crowded as a marketplace, and those who desired to enter and worship were unable to do so because of the sellers.  We often have this image of Christ being a soft, calm, and quiet person, but there was a zeal in Christ, especially for His house.  The disciples remembered it was written in Psalm 69:9, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”

While there is no place that the Lord can be bound to, we must understand that the temple, like the tabernacle, represented the dwelling place of God.  God would not permit what represented His dwelling place to be something sinful.  It was to be a place that was holy and righteous like Him, where those who desired to come to be uplifted and made well could do so without being ripped off and mistreated.

Zeal for God’s House

Here is the question that must be asked of all of God’s children today?  Do you share the same zeal for the house of God as the Lord does?

My concern today is that our zeal for the house of God is lacking.  We enter the church speaking any kind of way.  We enter the church dressing any kind of way.  There is a reason why Paul wrote about Christian dress and conduct in the place of worship.  Paul didn’t write about conduct and dress in worship because he was being snobbish, but because of his reverence for the Lord, and zeal for the place of worship.

When I think of the local church today, and the message that Christ would have for it, I consider the seven churches of Revelation 2-3.  Of the seven churches, only two of those churches were truly satisfactory in the eyes of God.  The church in Smyrna was a church that faced much persecution, but the members of that church remained faithful unto death (Rev. 2:8-10).  The church in Philadelphia was also a faithful church that Christ set an open door before (Rev. 3:7-8).  

The other remaining churches struggled mightily.  The church of Ephesus, while it moved, moved without love, and without love one cannot produce the righteousness of God (Rev. 2:4-5).  My concern today is that many believers, and therefore congregations, have become so apathetic in a world of much bitterness and hate.

The church in Thyatira was a church that permitted a ‘prophetess’ to speak in it, who taught and led believers in the church into sexual immorality (Rev. 2:20).  The church in Sardis was another church that moved, however its works were done out of religion, not sincere faith (Rev. 3:1).  We must let the Spirit lead us today in the works that we do as a church so that our works aren’t dead.  My concern today is that many local churches have religion, but there is very little faith.

Along those same lines, there was the church of the Laodiceans.  The Laodiceans were made up of wealthy people who felt they had need of nothing.  Their faith was lukewarm, as they put forth little to no effort of faith.  My concern today is that many local churches have become lukewarm at a time when we ought to be burning with zeal (Rev. 3:14-16).

I don’t say these things to put anyone down, but there is a rebuke that I believe is needed in today’s local church.  We must stop treating the house of God like it is a place of recreation.  The local church is not a place for a fashion show, nor for falling asleep, nor is it a place for gossip.  

The local church is a place for the soul to be uplifted, and we must make a way for the soul to be uplifted.  Anything that hinders such growth must be rebuked (corrected).  We must learn to honor our place of worship, therefore honoring God, and also honoring each other.